Hollywood Casino works to prevent underage gambling after being fined
DONALD GILLILAND, The Patriot-News
Hollywood Casino in East Hanover Township will pay a $40,000 fine as a result of a 20-year-old playing both table games and slots for approximately two hours last Nov. 30.
The fine was part of a $355,000 package of fines levied by the Gaming Control Board on Wednesday against several casinos and a slots manufacturer. It was the highest total amount of fines ever levied by the board at a single meeting.
“Our most important responsibility is to protect the public by ensuring that casinos are adhering to the law and regulations,” said Gaming Control Board Chairman Greg Fajt. “In these instances, it was imperative that the board act in a manner that clearly tells those companies that have been given the privilege of holding a Pennsylvania gaming license that violations are both unacceptable and have consequences.”
This was the second time fines were levied against Hollywood for underage gaming violations since its license received a three-year renewal in January 2010. In October of 2010, the casino received fines totaling $40,000 for three violations.
Frank Quigley, general manager of Hollywood Casino, said, “We understand the importance of keeping underage gamers out, and we work very hard to do so.”
It’s a “very high priority,” said Quigley, and “quite honestly, we think we do a pretty good job”
Over 1.5 million visitors walked through Hollywood’s doors in the first six months of this year, he said. More than 170,000 of them were carded, and 1,475 were turned away.
“As much as we’d like to, it’s going to be hard to bat a thousand as long as there are creative young folks determined to get in,” said Quigley.
The attempts range from fake IDs to collusion with parents who see no problem with young people gambling, he said.
The casino has launched a new incentive program for security staff: If the casino goes 100 days without any underage players getting in, all the security staff get $100 bonuses.
Quigley said he’d rather spend $40,000 keeping them out than on a fine.
Hollywood’s was the lowest fine of the three casinos cited.
Mount Airy Casino in the Poconos will pay $160,000 for seven incidents of underage gambling.
Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh will pay $150,000 for 11 instances of underage gambling and five incidents in which slot machines were put into play without proper testing and certification by the board’s Gaming Lab or without proper connection to the state’s gaming computer.
The board also approved a consent agreement with a manufacturer — WMS Gaming Inc. of Illinois — that resulted in a $5,000 fine for shipping slot machine software to Presque Isle Downs that had yet to be tested or approved by the Gaming Laboratory.
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